The Mega Millions jackpot has grown to $1 billion for the Christmas Eve drawing, marking the seventh-largest prize in the game's history. Strong ticket sales over the past 48 hours pushed the jackpot higher than the initially projected $944 million.

Top Mega Millions Jackpots:

• $1.602B — Aug. 8, 2023 (Florida)
• $1.537B — Oct. 23, 2018 (South Carolina)
• $1.348B — Jan. 13, 2023 (Maine)
• $1.337B — July 29, 2022 (Illinois)
• $1.128B — March 26, 2024 (New Jersey)
• $1.05B — Jan. 22, 2021 (Michigan)
• $1B — Dec. 24, 2024 (Pending)

The odds of winning are one in 302,575,350 – significantly lower than being struck by lightning (1 in 40 million) or dying in a plane crash (1 in 11 million).

Key Information for Tonight's Drawing:

• Time: 11 p.m. EST
• Location: Atlanta
• Cash option: $448.8 million (approximately $282.8 million after federal taxes)
• State tax varies: 2.5% to 10.9%
• Tax-free states: California, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming

Most states stop selling tickets one hour before the drawing. If no winner emerges tonight, the jackpot will roll over for a 30th time for Friday's drawing.

The accuracy of jackpot projections has improved significantly with electronic sales tracking, compared to the paper-based system used when Mega Millions launched in the 1990s.

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